A Star on Ice with Scott Hamilton #070

Although Olympic gold medalist, Scott Hamilton may make figure skating look easy, his journey to becoming the best was anything but. Adopted at 6-weeks old, Scott spent much of his childhood in and out of hospitals and felt different from the other kids. With ice skating, he not only found common ground; he discovered he had talent. In this episode, Scott shares his story, from finishing last in early national skating competitions to competing on the world stage to being diagnosed with cancer. Scott delves into the effect mindset has on success, why it’s important to continue to chip away at weaknesses and the ultimate lesson he learned from figure skating. He also discusses why he started his organization, the Scott Hamilton Cares Foundation, and his work fundraising for cancer research as a cancer survivor.

Inspirational quotes from today’s interview:

“It’s not whatever challenge is in front of you, it’s how you face it.”—Scott Hamilton

“The greatest thing about winning is the 10 minutes after you win, then it’s time to get back to work.”—Scott Hamilton

“The only disability is a bad attitude.”—Scott Hamilton

“Self-esteem is the most powerful agent. If you can look kindly upon yourself, if you can recognize good things in yourself, it’ll help you avoid a lot of really bad things.”—Scott Hamilton

“The greatest strength is a lack of weakness.”—Scott Hamilton

“Skating was an important foundation for the rest of my life because it’s filled with failure after failure and then you figure it out.”—Scott Hamilton

“A big part of learning anything is falling down.”—Scott Hamilton

“Pain is a terrific teacher.”—Scott Hamilton

“When you build your excellence on a mountain of failure, you don’t fear things the same way.”—Scott Hamilton